Rules of Survival(74)

Shaun was pale. He glanced over his shoulder as Patrick collided with Mick on his way to reach us. He, too, pulled against the rope, but it wasn’t any use. “Kayla—take a deep breath and—”

His body jerked sideways, right foot yanked out from beneath him as he went over the edge and slammed into the water—just two seconds before I did.

The water was shockingly cold. The sting of it against my skin was painful and almost made me forget I was about to drown. The farther down we sank, the less I could see. The lake was dark and the water murky, and I could just barely make out Shaun’s struggling form beside me. We were both thrashing around in an attempt to untie the ropes, as uncontrollable panic welled inside my chest. I couldn’t die. Not like this. I hadn’t come all this way to end up a waterlogged corpse in some wacko’s lake.

Shaun gave up and was digging into his pocket. Hope surged. A knife. Maybe he had a pocketknife. Something that might be able to cut the rope.

I followed his lead and bent down to see if I could untie the rope holding him to the cinder blocks. Awkwardly, my fingers fumbled and pulled, but the water was so cold and every inch of my body had gone numb. I tried and tried, but couldn’t reach the base of the knot.

I pulled on the cuffs, trying to stretch just a bit farther, but it was just no use. The few extra inches I needed just weren’t there—until they were.

Without warning, my left hand shot forward—free of the shackles—and I was able to get to the knot. A renewed sense of hope surged as I fumbled with the rope, desperately trying to slip my fingers through the middle to loosen it. Mick might have been a master of the disappearing act, but he tied a damn good knot, too. I couldn’t get it to budge.

A set of hands closed around my shoulders, pulled upward and pushed me away. Toward the surface. Shaun was still tied to the block. He’d gotten the shackles off my wrist somehow, and I was free to swim to the surface—but he wasn’t.

I swatted him away and made another swipe for the rope. Over and over, I tried to pry the knot loose. Shaun was there, too, picking at every part, trying to slip his fingers between the ropes to free his foot. Just an inch. A small opening. I was sure the whole thing would come undone if we could only get it started.

But I couldn’t. In fact, I couldn’t do much of anything.

The pressure in my chest was almost too much to stand at that point, and I had to battle the urge to inhale. Most of my fight was gone, limbs nearly unresponsive. Even though terror threatened to overtake me, I simply couldn’t move. Lungs, limbs, blood—all of me—felt heavy and frozen.

Shaun had done everything he promised. He’d kept me safe and helped me find the truth about what happened to my mom. Truth that had not only gotten me killed—but him, too. It wasn’t fair. He didn’t deserve this. Neither of us did.

A spark ignited deep in my belly. A finger twitched. Then, inside my sneaker, a toe.

Mom’s rules. They’d carried me through almost every bad situation and tight spot in my life. Why the hell was I disregarding them now? When I needed them the most?

Never give up.

I made a decision. Pushing off the ground, I kicked my feet hard and hoped it would be enough to propel me toward the surface. It was difficult at first. My body didn’t want to respond. But I made it. Life was about doing the things that needed to be done. No matter how painful or terrifying they might be. Mom had taught me that.

When my head broke the surface, I inhaled greedily. But it didn’t last. I managed a lungful of air before slipping back beneath the water. Shaun. I needed to get back to Shaun. But I needed air, too. I flailed my arms and kicked my feet, but all I managed to do was crest the surface again.

I saw a dark shape over the water. A cleanly shaven head and large brown eyes.

Patrick grabbed my wrists and heaved me from the water. “Shaun,” I gasped. “He’s stuck down there.”

A second later, there was a splash and he was gone.

A few feet from where I sat, shivering and sore, Mick lay motionless. Fanning out from his right side was a growing pool of blood. If I’d had the energy, I would have crawled over and kicked him. He might not feel it, but it would make me feel just a bit better. He’d finally paid for what he’d done, but I wasn’t satisfied. He’d taken my mom and I’d had no part in his fall. I felt cheated.

More splashing dragged my attention away from Mick’s body. I turned just as Patrick was hauling Shaun’s motionless form from the lake. The air, slightly warmer than the lake, rose from them in steamy waves and made the entire scene seem surreal. Like a nightmare there was no escape from.

Patrick set Shaun down on his back as he struggled to catch his breath. The rope was still knotted around Shaun’s ankle, but the end had been cut.

“No,” I whispered, crawling toward them. With each movement I made, razor-sharp pins and needles prickled every inch my body. “No-no-no…”

Patrick pushed me away and tipped Shaun’s head back. He began pumping his chest with a vengeance, leaning in to cover Shaun’s nose and breathe into his mouth every few seconds. I wasn’t sure how long this went on. Everything had slowed and time just didn’t seem to mean anything anymore. Any minute I would wake up. I’d be back in the cabin with Mom. None of the things that had happened over the last year—over the last few days—would be real.

Notreal-notreal-notreal.